


Delayed Love

by Tovaras



Series: Prompts [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Courtship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, M/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 05:17:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4864505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tovaras/pseuds/Tovaras
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Person B overhearing Person A admit to C that while they love B more than anything in the world, they’re certain that B doesn’t love them back at all. Person B spends the rest of the day proving just how much they do sincerely love A. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delayed Love

Alistair had had many missions in his life: the responsibility of rebuilding the Grey Wardens in Ferelden alongside the Hero of Ferelden, making sure that Queen Anora was properly supported as she had gracefully (and willingly) taken on the role -he- didn’t want as ruler of Ferelden, getting rid of the lingering darkspawns in the area and making sure that the future Wardens were well-trained and well-behaved, which often felt like the easiest part of his job.

At least until he overheard a conversation he hadn’t expected between two of the Keep’s resident mages.

“I don’t know what to say to him though,” Jowan had said quietly one day as he and Anders had entered a storage room that Alistair happened to be in as well. Jowan apparently hadn’t seen him (and really, why would he had as Alistair was knee-deep in leather-scraps, sorting them to find something he could use to fix the straps on his shield), and for some reason Alistair had felt the need to be very quiet as it seemed like the topic was rather personal.

“I always find that “hello, I rather fancy you, would you like a nice stroll through the Keep as we gaze at the stars and hold hands” work for me. That and “and then you can hoist my robe up and pin me to the wall and-””

“Okay, okay, that… That is all well and nice,” Jowan squeaked and Alistair could all but hear the blush in the bloodmage’s voice.  
“But I don’t think that that will work for me. I mean… I am not charming and such like you are…”

“Nonsense,” Anders all but barked out and Alistair could hear something being dropped onto the ground just moments after.  
“You are all those things and more and if that idiot does not see that, the Maker’s breath, he does not deserve you.”

“Don’t call him that, he’s not an idiot! He was just brought a certain way, I mean… He was going to be a Templar and all… And he’s gotten better; he doesn’t leave when I go into the room and such anymore.”

“If he was half as brave with you as he is when facing darkspawn, he wouldn’t flee at all,” Anders grumbled.

“Alistair isn’t that bad,” Jowan repeated and Alistair had to bite his own tongue to prevent himself from saying something. They were talking about him?!  
“He is a good man and a kind man. And you also think blood magic is bad so you really shouldn’t throw stones.”

“But I know you, Jowan! You are a sweet man and Alistair really has no reason to be afraid of you! The only time you use bloodmagic is when you heal! You should get a reward for that, you know. Creative use of magic.”

Jowan chuckled. “Thank you, Anders, but I get the fear. I do. And I do not mind admiring him and loving him from a distance, even if he will never return it. As long as I can eventually have his friendship, then that will be enough.”

“You really, really deserve better,” Anders repeated as the two mages shifted, then left the room.  
Alistair remained unmoving, all but frozen in place as he waited for the sound of their voices and footsteps to vanish completely.

Jowan… Had feelings for him?  
Maker, when had -that- happened?  
And was Alistair really that bad around him? He knew he had been at the start, but he had spent time with the mage and learned more about him, and he now knew that the man was good.

Was he still avoiding him?  
If he was, then Alistair hadn’t meant to, not intentionally!

And it wasn’t like Jowan’s feelings were unreturned… In fact, the more he had learned about Jowan and spent time with him, the more his feelings had started to grow.

Standing up, and almost banging his head against a tall stack of boxes, Alistair decided that he had another mission to accomplish.

He had to show Jowan that he was indeed loved!

***

When the small bouquet of wild flowers made their way outside of Jowan’s door, the mage was somewhat confused. There was no note, he had heard nothing, but the flowers were still fresh so it had to have happened very recently.

Still, it was a sweet gesture and the first thought was that Anders was just trying to cheer him up. So he took the flowers to his room, filled a vase with water and carefully placed the bouquet into it. If anything, it would help liven up his room and that was always a plus.

When food was brought to his small work-space down at the healer’s ward in the keep, Jowan dismissed it as the Warden Commander or Anders sending him food because he had forgotten to eat lunch again. However, the small red rose that accompanied the rich meaty stew and the slightly warm cider was a bit harder to explain, but it was a nice gesture and it made Jowan smile.

When Jowan found a small bowl with fresh berries on his desk in the afternoon, he had looked at Anders with a quizzical look. Anders himself denied having anything to do with it and when prompted, he also denied being involved with the flowers and the lunch. In fact, he had spent most of the day with the Warden Commander in relation to a trip to Amaranthine which also excluded his involvement in it.  
“Besides,” Anders had said. “If it was from us, we would have left a note, especially with the lunch. It seems to me that someone has an admirer.”

Jowan had merely laughed and dismissed it, but as the day went on, several small gifts and gestures continued to pop up: useful herbs that Jowan had meant to fetch, but hadn’t had the time to get yet, mugs of water and cider every time his own pitcher turned empty, small snacks and treats to help fill him until dinnertime.  
It was sweet, but it was also slightly worrisome as there was no note accompanying the small gifts. Jowan just couldn’t help but wonder if this was a prank, a thoughtful gesture or something else.

When one of the newest recruits stopped him on the way to the dining hall, Jowan started to wonder if he had something wrong and if the treats had been something close to a last meal.

“Ser Alistair wants to see you, mage,” the recruit had started, then winced as he seemingly caught himself on something bad. “Ser. I meant ser. Ser.”

“It’s okay,” Jowan said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, Ser. Just that it was important and that you need to come to his office.”

“Well, thank you for notifying me,” Jowan said before turning and heading in the direction of Alistair’s office, hoping that his stomach would forgive him for eating a little later.  
His heart was racing as he walked up the stone-hallway to the ex-Templar’s office, wondering just what Alistair wanted with him. Alistair had never summoned him and while the man was friendly enough, Jowan hesitated on even calling him a friend. He didn’t blame him, considering what Jowan had done to his family, but he was still hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they could start a proper friendship one day.

When he reached Alistair’s door, he lifted a hand and knocked, waiting for the warm voice to call out “enter, please” before doing so.  
Once the door opened though, Jowan stopped in his tracks and just stared, mouth slightly open.

Alistair’s normally cluttered desk was cleaned and set with plates, cutlery, glasses and two bottles of what seemed to be spiced cider. Thick wax candles were placed in the middle and Alistair was in the middle of bringing a large pot of what smelled like stew over to the table.  
“Erm… You came a bit quicker than I thought you would so I wasn’t quite ready,” the large man said with a slightly embarrassed smile. “But do come in, have a seat. Food’s ready and everything.”

“What… What is all of this?” Jowan asked as he slowly walked into the room, feeling a bit dazed.

“A little birdie told me that I haven’t been as nice to you as I should have been,” Alistair murmured. “Or that I haven’t given you the attention you deserve. Consider this the start of me making up for that.”

“But… You have been kind to me,” Jowan said carefully, placing a hand against his neck while hoping the blush on his cheek wasn’t as bad as it felt.  
“I mean, you have reason to distrust me and treat me with spite, but you haven’t done that.”

“Maybe so, but…” Alistair inhaled deeply as he put the pot down, and then walked over to Jowan. He hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take one of Jowan’s hands, bringing it to his mouth and kissing it.  
“But I haven’t treated you nice either. I assure you though; I haven’t done it on purpose. I’ve just got a million things on my mind and when I get into one of those moods, I just… space out. I fear you might have experienced that more than your fair share of times by the looks of things.”

Now Jowan was sure that his cheeks were on fire: there was no way that Alistair was there, kissing his hand and telling him those things. “A-Alistair?”

“I rather like you, Jowan. More so after I got to know you better and I would like to continue to get you know you,” Alistair murmured, giving the mage a rather small, shy, but very warm smile. “… If you will let me.”

Jowan’s lips tugged into a wide smile and the mage could only hope he didn’t seem like an over-eager child as he nodded his head. “Yes. Yes, I… Yes, of course, Alistair. I would like nothing more.”  
The smile that turned up on Alistair’s own lips as the warrior guided Jowan to the chair was enough to make Jowan fall in love all over again.

For Alistair, he just hoped that Jowan realized that he was loved and cheeriest by him.  
A mission he would never stop working on for as long as he lived.


End file.
